School Leadership in Changing Cultural Contexts: How Mississippi Superintendents are Responding to Hurricane Katrina

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Mississippi Gulf Coast superintendents were faced with changes in their communities, schools, and school districts of a magnitude that they could not have imagined. This narrative study was based on multiple interviews conducted in 2005 and 2006 of 7 Gulf Coast superintendents. The study investigated how these superintendents have responded to the devastation of Katrina and how they perceive their leadership roles to have changed as a result. The study found that the superintendents have changed their priorities and focuses and have drawn on their personal strength and resilience to serve the people in their school districts and their communities.